Exposure To These Weather Conditions May Increase Dementia Risk
There’s a lot of impressive dementia research taking place at the moment.
Scientists are developing blood tests that may be able to spot the condition early on.
Drugs like Lecanemab, which has been shown to slow down the development of dementia, have recently been approved in the UK (though it’s not available on the NHS).
Researchers have linked previously unthought-of factors like light pollution to dementia this year too.
The team at the University of Bristol (UoB) have found another connection – apparently, there are “strong links” between prolonged exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures and the development of multiple health issues including dementia, leading author Dann Mitchell said.
How come?
The paper, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, linked exposure to extremes of hot and cold weather to kidney disease, dementia, skin cancer and the spread of infectious diseases.
The scientists used the UK as an example case.
We already know that climate changes are likely to be bad for heart and lung health.
But the recent UoB-led study wanted to look across disciplines.
“The collective sum of many world-leading experts in this area means we can pool our knowledge, and use evidence from very different disciplines to give a full overview of how weather and climate patterns impact the UK population,” Professor Mitchell shared on the University of Bristol’s site.
“For instance, warmer nights interrupt sleep patterns, which may speed up the progression of dementia,” he said.
That makes sense; heatwaves do indeed worsen sleep quality, and lower sleep quality (especially in midlife) has been linked to a higher dementia risk.
“Multi-year heat stress will likely exacerbate underlying health conditions, such as kidney diseases,” Professor Mitchell added.
“We need to focus on these long-term exposures to get the full picture.”
How can I help someone with dementia in a heatwave?
The climate crisis is a larger issue, affecting everything from turbulence to sea levels.
Alzheimer’s Society has issued advice on how best to protect those with dementia during a heatwave however.
Ensuring those with the condition are dressed appropriately, stay hydrated, stay our of the midday sun, keep their blinds shut during the day, and have cooling methods available to them can all help.
According to the Met Office, 2022 and 2023 were the hottest years on record.
“With more and more data becoming available in long-running health studies, the next step is to look at these data and model their associations with long-term weather exposure, along with other factors that affect health over time,” the study’s co-author, Dr Eunice Lo, research fellow in climate change and health at the University of Bristol Cabot Institute for the Environment, said.
